Barbie Continues Reign as Most Popular Doll; Gaming Consoles see Big Comeback led by Wii; Vespa Scooter, Most Popular Grown-up Toy

WALTHAM, Mass.-Nov. 25, 2008 - Lycos, Inc.(http://www.lycos.com), a leading provider of social publishing, media and search services, today announced its ninth annual list of the most popular toys and video games this holiday season, based on web search activity. For a complete list and commentary of the Lycos Top Toys and Video Games of 2008, go to http://50.lycos.com. Users can also voice their opinions on this year's list, and weigh in on weekly Internet trends and pop culture on the Lycos 50 Blog (http://lycos50.tripod.com/blog/) or follow the Lycos 50 on Twitter.

The Top 10 Most-Searched Toys this holiday season:

1)

iPod

6)

Barbie

2)

Poker

7)

Inuyasha

3)

Naruto

8)

Blackjack

4)

Pokemon

9)

Weblinz

5)

Dragonball

10)

Wii

The Top 10 Most-Searched Video Games this holiday season:

1)

RuneScape

6)

World of Warcraft

2)

Halo 3

7)

Resident Evil 5

3)

Final Fantasy XIII

8)

Guitar Hero World Tour

4)

Diablo III

9)

Call of Duty-World at War

5)

Grand Theft Auto IV

10)

Street Fighter IV

Apple's iPod (#1) gets a hand up on Poker (#2) to top the 2008 list of most-searched toys with web users this holiday season. For the past 3 years, Poker, and specific poker-related items like poker chips, poker cards and poker sets, has landed in the number one spot on the Lycos list. But this year, the Apple frenzy, including hot-searched items like the iTouch and iPod Nano, helped propel iPod to the number one spot on Lycos's Top Toys and Video Games list for the first time ever. Harry Potter (#11) makes a fifth consecutive appearance in 2008, with Harry Potter games, books and DVDs dominating Harry Potter-themed searches.

New in 2008 is KOTA, the Triceratops Dinosaur (#15), generating more search interest than the very popular Guitar Hero World Tour (#8) and Fisher Price's New Elmo Live (#19). Meanwhile, not so hot in 2008 are Hannah Montana-related toy items, which made a big splash in 2007, but fail to make this year's list as Spongebob Squarepants (#14) takes over as the top licensed character-themed toy of 2008. Spongebob was last seen on the Lycos Top Toy list in 2005. And when it comes to dolls, Barbie (#6) continues to reign, extending her run on the annual Lycos list of Top Toys and Video Games to nine consecutive years of appearing in the Top 10. Barbie generates10 times more search popularity than the Bratz Dolls (#20) and is 150 percent more popular in online interest than the Polly Pocket franchise.

Gaming consoles see a big resurgence in search popularity in 2008, with the Nintendo Wii (#10) capturing the most search interest, generating 25 percent more search activity than the Xbox 360 (#12) and Playstation 3 (#13). Also seeing a resurgence in 2008 are old school classics Monopoly (#17), Scrabble (#22) and Rubik's Cube (#23). And while it's considered more of an adult toy, the Vespa Scooter deserves an honorable mention on this year's Lycos list of Top Toys and Video Games, as the economy appears to be driving search interest in this most popular toy for grown-ups.

Five of the top 25 toys in 2008 originate from the popular world of anime including Naruto (#3), Pokemon (#4), Dragonball (#5), Inuyasha (#7) and Gundam (#16). The most popular search related queries for the kings of anime include character toys, playing cards, video games, magazines, board games, puzzles and DVDs. Meanwhile, one new toy making the 2008 list may be unfamiliar to most adults, but if search activity is any indication, expect the Bakugan Battle Brawlers (#24) to be flying off the shelves this holiday season.

On the video game front, the massive multi-player game RuneScape (#1) scores big with web users for the fourth consecutive year as the most-searched video game of 2008, while Final Fantasy makes its first appearance on the list since 2005, with Final Fantasy XIII (#3). Also racking up points online, making first-ever appearances on the top video games list, are war-themed games including Call of Duty: World at War (#9) and Gears of War 2( #14), while Guitar Hero World Tour (#8) and Wii Fit (#15) are the most popular Wii-themed games based on web searches in 2008.

Also new in 2008 are Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games Fable 2 (#17), Fallout 3 (#18), Street Fighter IV (#10), Dead Space (#19), Far Cry 2 (#22) and BioShock (#25). This also marks the fourth consecutive year the Madden football-themed games fail to make Lycos's Top Toys and Video Games list.

About Lycos, Inc.

Lycos is one of the original and most widely known Internet brands in the world, evolving from one of the first search engines on the web, into a comprehensive network of social media web sites that foster online communities.

>Lycos has been a pioneer in intelligent spidering search technology, combining its proprietary technology with other best in class search services to provide a powerful and relevant search experience for its users.

Times change, and Lycos has changed with them, evolving into digital media power house with two major divisions

Lycos, is a network of easy to use community and social sites. Lycos's award-winning products and services include tools for blogging, web publishing and hosting, online games, e-mail, and search. The Lycos Network of sites and services include Lycos.com, Tripod, Angelfire, HotBot, Gamesville, WhoWhere, and Lycos Mail. Integrated, these sites help in bringing people together to interact, conduct commerce, have fun, and experience the best the Internet has to offer, is in our DNA. We offer 40 Local Sites in 120 Languages with a community spanning across 177 Countries. Lycos consistently averages 12 - 15 million monthly unique visitors in the U.S.

Lycos employs over 500 people working out of 24 offices worldwide, including the US, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, Mexico, the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Sweden, Serbia, Israel, China, Thailand, Panama, India, Emirates, Russia and Australia, and with representatives or partners in Spain, South Africa, and The Netherlands.

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